Social network Bluesky is teasing<\/a> its roadmap for the year ahead, emphasizing a focus on things like improving the app\u2019s algorithmic Discover feed, offering its users better recommendations on who to follow, giving the app more of a real-time feel, and more.<\/p>\n At the same time, the company admitted that it needs to work on getting the \u201cbasics\u201d right, too. <\/p>\n Launched to the public in early 2024<\/a> after an invite-only period, the decentralized X and Threads alternative has since scaled to over 42 million users<\/a>, according to data sourced directly from the Bluesky API for developers.<\/p>\n Though it\u2019s differentiated from mainstream social media with its custom feeds and configurable algorithms, Bluesky hasn\u2019t caught up to rivals with regard to basic features, like private accounts, drafts, support for longer videos, and more. <\/p>\n Bluesky\u2019s head of product, Alex Benzer, acknowledged some of these concerns in a new post on the company\u2019s website<\/a>, where he said that the \u201cbasics need to be solid\u201d before Bluesky can expect users to stick around.<\/p>\n Those remarks come after a usage<\/a> slowdown<\/a> on Bluesky, which saw a 40% year-over-year drop in daily active users as of October 2025, according to data from market intelligence provider Similarweb, as reported by Forbes<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition to supporting drafts, Benzer said the app\u2019s composer should handle media better, noting that three-minute-long videos aren\u2019t enough, and videos should upload faster. Plus, he wants Bluesky to support posting more than four photos at a time, and thinks threads should be easier to create, too. <\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span> The need for private accounts wasn\u2019t addressed, but those will take longer to realize, Bluesky has previously explained. The plan<\/a> is for the underlying protocol, the AT Protocol (or AT Proto for short), to eventually<\/a> support private accounts. But that won\u2019t be coming anytime soon.<\/p>\n Benzer also pointed to improvements to the app\u2019s Discover feed, which could add topic tags as a way to guide people to posts related to their interests. \u201cWho to follow\u201d suggestions will also be improved, as finding high-quality connections can improve the overall user experience.<\/p>\n Benzer believes that Bluesky needs to have more of a \u201creal-time\u201d feel, whether that\u2019s around events like sports, or political moments of interest like elections. The company is building curation tools for its team to make high-quality and timely custom feeds available during live events, he said. The team is exploring other new features within feeds that would make these feeds feel \u201cless like just scrolling through posts and more like hanging out,\u201d Benzer said. (What that means, we\u2019re not exactly sure!)<\/p>\n In terms of growing the overall ecosystem, which the community has dubbed the \u201cAtmosphere,\u201d the company will look to improve interoperability with other apps that are also built on the underlying AT Protocol. <\/p>\n For instance, if you go live on Twitch or Streamplace<\/a>, another app powered by the AT Protocol, you\u2019ll see a LIVE badge appear on your profile photo on Bluesky.<\/p>\n Benzer said another integration like this is coming \u201csoon.\u201d <\/p>\n While Bluesky has succeeded in adding users, actual usage on Bluesky ebbs and flows, with surges often timed to changes at X<\/a> or moments of political tension<\/a>. Meanwhile, Meta\u2019s Threads has become the next-nearest competitor to X. New third-party data indicates that Threads is now outpacing X<\/a> in daily mobile users, though X was still ahead on the desktop web. <\/p>\n Threads\u2019 main advantage is that it\u2019s backed by the resources of a tech giant, allowing for heavy cross-promotion, easier onboarding, and tons of resources. As a result, Threads has been rapidly shipping new features over the past year or so, including things like\u00a0interest-based communities<\/a>,\u00a0better filters<\/a>,\u00a0DMs<\/a>,\u00a0long-form text<\/a>, and\u00a0disappearing posts<\/a>. That\u2019s helped to differentiate it from X and gain traction among users, including those who want a network that favors creator content over politics, which Threads had deprioritized<\/a> up until a year ago.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/bluesky-video.jpg?w=680\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bluesky-feeds.jpg?w=561\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/live-now-badge.jpg?w=680\"){kind=icon}